21. William McGonagall - The Tay Bridge Disaster The Tay Bridge Disaster. Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!Alas! I am very sorry to say That ninety lives have been taken http://www.taynet.co.uk/users/mcgon/disaster.htm

The Tay Bridge Disaster Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay! Alas! I am very sorry to say That ninety lives have been taken away On the last Sabbath day of 1879, Which will be remember'd for a very long time. 'Twas about seven o'clock at night, And the wind it blew with all its might, And the rain came pouring down, And the dark clods seem'd to frown, And the Demon of the air seem'd to say- "I'll blow down the Bridge of Tay." When the train left Edinburgh The passengers' hearts were light and felt no sorrow, But Boreas blew a terrific gale, Which made their hearts for to quail, And many of the passengers with fear did say- "I hope God will send us safe across the Bridge of Tay." But when the train came near to Wormit Bay, Boreas he did loud and angry bray, And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay On the last Sabbath day of 1879, Which will be remember'd for a very long time. So the train sped on with all its might, And Bonnie Dundee soon hove in sught, And the passengers' hearts felt light

22. BBC - H2g2 - William McGonagall - Poet Concise article describing mcgonagall's life and work from the BBC h2g2 site. http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A416341

CATEGORIES TV RADIO COMMUNICATE ... INDEX SEARCH Tuesday 25th March 2003 Text only Guide ID: A416341 (Edited) Edited Guide Entry The Guide to Life The Universe and Everything SEARCH h2g2 Advanced Search No-one Logged In: Login Register BBC Homepage Life ... Scotland Created: 8th September 2000 William McGonagall - Poet Front Page Register Login Who's Online ... Help Like this page? Send it to a friend! William Topaz McGonagall was born of rather poor Irish parents in Edinburgh, Scotland, in March 1825. In his nearly unreadable, rambling biographical notes , one eventually learns that he sprang from a family of five children and that he worked with his father as a handloom weaver. His education appears to have been patchy, but, in his own words, 'William has been like the immortal Shakespeare he had learned more from nature than he ever learned at school'. The family settled in Dundee while William was still a boy, and he lived there for the rest of his life. He died in 1902. As a grown man, he continued to work in the family trade, and married one Jean King in 1846. At about this time he also began to participate in amateur theatrics, acting in Shakespearean drama at the Dundee theatre. The Muse of Poetry appears to have captured his imagination, if not his talent, in the 1870s, beginning with a paean to a new railway bridge over the Tay River at Dundee in 1877. By McGonagall's own account, the poem was '... received with eclat and [he] was pronounced by the Press the Poet Laureate of the Tay Bridge...'. And after that he never stopped. His first collection of

23. Untitled william mcgonagall was born in Edinburgh but brought up in Orkney until his family moved to Dundee when he was 11. http://www.firstfoot.co.uk/Great%20Scot/gonagall.htm

http://firstfoot.co.uk/ http://firstfoot.co.uk/

24. Past Issues Of Weekly Features For 2002 Short biographical article and picture of a recently erected memorial plaque. http://scottishculture.about.com/aboutuk/scottishculture/library/blfammcgonagall

25. Dundee City Council Scotland - SPIN-SOCITM Best WebSite Award Winner 2001 A selection of original mcgonagall manuscripts and related documents from the collection of the Dundee Category Arts Literature Authors M mcgonagall, william...... http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/centlib/silverytay/

26. William McGonagall Biographical article from SCRAN multimedia database. http://www.scran.ac.uk/ixbin/hixclient?_IXDB_=scran&submit-button=SUMMARY&am

27. The Worst Poem Of All Time: William Topaz McGonagall's “The Tay Bridge Disaster Text and criticism of the work. http://poetry.about.com/library/weekly/aa050499.htm?once=true&

28. McGonagall Online Search for Dundee, 30th May 1865. I certify that william McGonagallhas for some time been known to me. I have heard him speak, he http://www.extracon.com/mcgonagall/

29. Index Page Selection of general and military works. http://www.geocities.com/trollocksuk/

The Poetry Of William McGonagall The home of the famous Troll Poets. William McGonagall is the adopted patron poet of TrollCity message board. General Verse A Christmas Carol The Destroying Angel A Tribute to Henry Stanley The Heather Blend Club Banquet ... The Farewell Addres s An Address to the New Tay Bridge The Newport Railway A Tale Of The Sea The Tay Bridge Disaster ... The Collision in the English Channel Military Verse General Roberts The Hero Of Rorke's Drift The Battle of Gujrat The Battle of Atabara ... The First Grenadier of France

30. The Worst Poem Of All Time: William Topaz McGonagall's “The Tay Bridge Disaster The Worst Poem of All Time william Topaz mcgonagall's “The Tay Bridge Disaster”.Dateline 5/4/99 william Topaz mcgonagall. william Topaz mcgonagall. http://poetry.about.com/library/weekly/aa050499.htm?once=true&

31. The Poetry Of Scotland - The Tay Bridge Disaster By William Topaz MacGonagall, S thought to mirror his own career. by william Topaz mcgonagall. BeautifulRailway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay! Alas! I am very sorry to http://www.it-serve.co.uk/poetry/Mcgonagall/bridgedisaster.php

The Tay Bridge Disaster At 7.15pm on 28th December 1879, The Tay Bridge was blown down while a passenger train heading north from Edinburgh and Fife was attempting to cross. There were no survivors. Only 46 bodies were ever recovered. However, the train was pulled from the River Tay and went on to continue in service until 1902. The Tay Bridge Disaster is McGonagall's best known poem. He once asserted that "it was the only poem that made me famous universally". His tragic account of The Tay Bridge Disaster has become the definitive McGonagall poem and is often thought to mirror his own career. by William Topaz McGonagall Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay! Alas! I am very sorry to say, That ninety lives have been taken away, On the last Sabbath day of 1879, Which will be remember'd for a very long time. 'Twas about seven o'clock at night, And the wind it blew with all its might, And the rain came pouring down, And the dark clouds seem'd to frown, And the Demon of the air seem'd to say- "I'll blow down the Bridge of Tay."

32. Arts/Literature/Authors/M/McGonagall,_William of comedians. Chris Hunt, category editor (after william mcgonagall)/ Arts / Literature / Authors / M / mcgonagall, william. http://www.arts-entertainment-recreation.com/Arts/Literature/Authors/M/McGonagal

Search: Category Description: Twas in the year 1877 and in Dundee's holiday week When a weaver named McGonagall began his fortune for to seek He took his pen and wrote a verse about Gilfillan of Dundee And thus began a career of great notoriety For William's muse drew him to write on subjects grave and sad And the fruits of his labours were so uniformly bad That many men of learning are often heard to say That McGonagall is quite the worst poet of his own or any other day If you read his dreadful verse, you'll find after a while That upon your lips you'll scarce be able to suppress a smile So three cheers for McGonagall, Poet and Tradegian Bonny Dundee's favourite son, and finest of comedians. Chris Hunt, category editor (after William McGonagall) Arts Literature Authors M McGonagall, William The McGonagall Lexicon Large collection of "poetic gems" online together with a chat room and a selection of links. URL: http://www.spda.com/mcgonagall/main.cfm Theatre McGonagall Flash movies based on McGonagall's works.

33. Arts/Literature/Authors/M McCourt, Frank, McCutcheon, John T. McEwan, Ian. McGee, KR, mcgonagall,william, McHugh, Heather. McKay, Claude, McNab, Andy, Mencken, Henry Louis. http://www.arts-entertainment-recreation.com/Arts/Literature/Authors/M/

Search: Category Description: Sites by, or about, authors of literature whose last names begin with M. Arts Literature Authors M MacAvoy, R. A. MacDonald, George Machado, Antonio Machen, Arthur ... Simon Mawer Author of Mendel's Dwarf and The Gospel of Judas. Published by Little Brown. URL: http://www.SimonMawer.com/ Back to top Ticketmaster Travelocity Sidewalk ... Buy, Shop and Sell Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web. Submit a Site Open Directory Project Become an Editor Search:

34. William McGonagall (Poet And Tragedian) william Topaz mcgonagall. (poet and tragedian). He may have been born in Edinburghbut Dundee is the city where william Topaz mcgonagall's work flourished. http://www.scottish-sculpture.com/Finished_Sculptures/William_Topaz_McGonagall.h

To arrange purchase of this or any other of my works by cheque or money order please email me William Topaz McGonagall (poet and tragedian) He may have been born in Edinburgh but Dundee is the city where William Topaz McGonagall's work flourished. A handloom weaver by trade he is world renowned for his disjointed poetry that simply doesn't scan. Whether he was an ingenious buffoon or a shrewd entertainer (McGonagall extracted fees of between 5 and 10/- (50p) from the crowds who gleefully attended his public humiliations) is open to debate. Whatever the case, one cannot fail to admire McGonagall's eternal optimism-this is the man who walked from Dundee to Balmoral to present a volume of his treasured verse to his beloved Queen Victoria only to be told at the gates of the castle to go away. For more information on William Topaz McGonnagal please visit: www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

35. William "Topaz" McGonagall A "fairly long, but delightfully atrocious" example of mcgonagall's work, with comments Category Arts Literature Authors M mcgonagall, william...... it regain. by william mcgonagall. Comments. Wow! How many ways canone person go wrong in a piece of writing? mcgonagall's rhymes http://www.lester.smith.net/mcgonagall.htm

Burning of the Exeter Theatre Warning: The poem here is fairly long, but it is delightfully atrocious! Take a deep breath, square your shoulders, and dive in. You won't regret it. 'Twas in the year of 1887, which many people will long remember, The burning of the Theatre at Exeter on the 5th of September, Alas! that ever-to-be-remembered and unlucky night, When one hundred and fifty lost their lives, a most agonising sight. The play on this night was called "Romany Rye," And at act four, scene third, Fire! Fire! was the cry; And all in a moment flames were seen issuing from the stage, Then the women screamed frantically, like wild beasts in a cage. Then a panic ensued, and each one felt dismayed, And from the burning building a rush was made; And soon the theatre was filled with a blinding smoke, So that the people their way out had to grope. The shrieks of those trying to escape were fearful to hear, Especially the cries of those who had lost their friends most dear; Oh, the scene was most painful in the London Inn Square, To see them wringing their hands and tearing their hair!

36. William McGonagall Personal notes on the Great mcgonagall by Ed Cairney william mcgonagallis, after Shakespeare, the greatest poet who has ever lived. http://www.mcgonagall.info/

Please select... 01 Introduction 02 Biography 03 Selected Poems 04 Festival Programme 06 Donations 07 Links 08 Contact Us This site is dedicated to the life and works of William Topaz McGonagall, the great poet and tragedian who will always and forever be linked with the city of Dundee. He has widely been branded the 'world's worst poet' but as we aim to point out he was, in fact the 'Bob Dylan' of his day - maybe even the world's first rapper - and his work is only now being appreciated for what it is. Originally born in Edinburgh, or possibly Donegal, of Irish parents, the self-educated handloom weaver discovered his talent for writing in 1877 and for the next 25 years earned his meagre living as working poet both delighting and appalling audiences across Scotland and beyond. The Centenary Festival is a lasting memory to the great man and the mark he made on the city of Dundee.

37. [minstrels] The Tay Bridge Disaster -- William McGonagall 343 The Tay Bridge Disaster. Title The Tay Bridge Disaster. Poet william mcgonagall. Date 16 Feb 2000. william mcgonagall. http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/343.html

[343] The Tay Bridge Disaster Title : The Tay Bridge Disaster Poet : William McGonagall Date : 16 Feb 2000 Beautiful Railway Br... Length : Text-only version Prev Index Next Your comments on this poem to attach to the end [ microfaq For a slight change of pace... The Tay Bridge Disaster William McGonagall http://www.wmich.edu/english/tchg/lit/pms/index.html http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/Sturgeon's-Law.html http://www.taynet.co.uk/users/mcgon/ Links: http://poetry.about.com/arts/poetry/library/weekly/aa050499.htm http://www.taynet.co.uk/users/mcgon/ (the McGonagall Appreciation Society - the mind boggles) On Bad Poetry: There is a huge amount of bad poetry in the world. Although new bad poems are being written by the hundreds every day (many of them in university creative writing classes), most bad poetry is simply weak and ineffectual and lacking in interest and (fortunately) is soon forgotten. To achieve memorable badness is not so easy. It has to be done innocently, by a poet unaware of his or her defects. The right combination of lofty ambition, humorless self-confidence, and crass incompetence is rare and precious. (There is a famous anthology of bad poetry called The Stuffed Owl, which I recommend to those interested.) Seamus Cooney, W. Michigan U. Compare McGonagall's wonderfully unconscious humour with the following work by 'the worst poet in the universe'... http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~nhughes/dna/docs/poetry.html

38. Scotland Magazine : Issue 5 :: William McGonagall: White Elephant Back to Issue 5 Back to Scottish Poets. william mcgonagall White Elephant By GavinD Smith. So who was william mcgonagall, selfstyled ‘Poet and Tragedian’? http://www.scotlandmag.com/issue/5/scottish_poets/169

Tuesday 25th March 2003 Scotland Magazine Published by Paragraph Publishing Current Issue : 5 Next Issue 20021206 Scotland Magazine Issue 5 Published 4 Oct 2002 Buy this issue Subscribe to Scotland Magazine Read other issues online Scottish Poets Back to Issue 5 Back to Scottish Poets William McGonagall: White Elephant By Gavin D Smith Gavin D Smith explains the peculiar success of Scotland's worst poet William McGonagall, aka 'Knight of the White Elephant of Burma' Scotland’s second best-known poet after Burns”, I said to the magazine’s Editor, trying to persuade him to commission a feature about William McGonagall, who died a century ago this year. “Scotland’s second-best poet,” he mused. “No,” I replied, “second best-known. There’s a big difference.” Robert Burns is acknowledged the world over as a fine writer by any standards – technically accomplished, sensitive and insightful, with an impressive breadth of subject matter and a clear mastery over it. When it comes to William McGonagall, however, Scottish author William McIlvanney recently described him as the “ foremostpoet of banal pomposity, excruciating scansion and rhymes of such numbing impact they could give you cauliflower ears just fromsilent reading.”

39. Scottish Poet William McGonagall SVBanner.jpg (8465 bytes). william mcgonagall. (1830 1902). williammcgonagall is Dundee's best remembered nobody. He was a man http://scotlandvacations.com/mcgonagall.htm

William McGonagall William McGonagall is Dundee's best remembered nobody. He was a man without talent who thought he was a great poet and tragedian and only needed an opportunity to prove it. This made him the perfect target for practical jokers who abounded in his day. He was engaged to give entertainments in small halls just so his audience could make a goat of him. His teetotal drink was spiked with alcohol. McGonagall had passed middle life before he got the idea he had been visited by the muse. He was born in Edinburgh in 1825 and grew up in Dundee, to which his father moved in search of work. William also laboured long hours in the weaving trade. All his life he was the butt of cruel jokes, but his faith in himself could not be shaken. His remains were dropped into a paupers' grave nearly a hundred years ago, but his memory holds up. All his poems have been published and so are there to be judged: they have, if nothing else, the quality of inimitability. Until earlier this year his name and portrait flourished over a public house in one of Dundee's main roads and a McGonagall Society endures.

40. BRIEF AUTOBIOGRAPHY By William McGonagall :: POETRY PARLOUR : Janet's Wordplay A mcgonagall's "Brief Autobiography" together with an appreciation and some samples of his Category Arts Literature Authors M mcgonagall, william......Janet's Wordplay and Puzzle Site Portrait of the Poet william mcgonagall (?18251902),by WB Lamond (1857-1924). BRIEF AUTOBIOGRAPHY. by william mcgonagall. http://www.poetry-parlour.fsnet.co.uk/mcg.htm

Portrait of the Poet William McGonagall (?1825-1902), by W.B. Lamond (1857-1924) Brief Autobiography by William McGonagall Birth and background. First stage appearance. "The most startling incident in my life was the time I discovered myself to be a poet..." ... My own appreciation of William McGonagall's poetry. BRIEF AUTOBIOGRAPHY by William McGonagall My father, being forced to leave Glasgow through want of work, came to Dundee, where plenty of work was to be had at the time-such as sacking, cloth, and other fabrics. It was at this time that your humble servant was sent to work in a mill in the Scouringburn, which was owned by Mr Peter Davie, and there I remained for about four years, after which I was taken from the mill, and put to learn the handloom in Ex-Provost Reid's factory, which was also situated in the Scouringburn. After I had learned to be an expert hand-loom weaver, I began to take a great delight in reading books, as well as to improve my handwriting, in my leisure hours at night, until I made myself what I am. The books that I liked best to read were Shakespeare's penny plays, more especially Macbeth, Richard III, Hamlet, and Othello; and I gave myself no rest until I obtained complete mastery over the above four characters. Many a time in my dear father's absence I enacted entire scenes from Macbeth and Richard III, along with some of my shopmates, until they were quite delighted; and many a time they regaled me and the other actors that had entertained them to strong ale, biscuits, and cheese.

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